Means and method for warming floors



Jan. 19,1926. 1,570,162"

l J. W. M KEEHAN ET AL MEANS AND METHOD FOR WARMING FLOORS Filed Nov.13, 1922,

gl i'l- 2 "nan" W/P/VE) Patented Jan. 19, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. MCKEEHAN, OF CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, AND GEORGE J. HENRY, OF SAFRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

MEANS AND METHOD FOR WARMING FLOORS.

Application filed November 13, 1922. Serial No. 600,537.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it-known that we, JOHN WV. MoKEE- HAN and GEORGE J. IIENRY, citizensof the United States, and residents of Contra Costa County, California,and San Francisco, county of San Francisco, California, respectively,have invented new and useful Improvements in Means and Methods forWarming Floors, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates particularly to a device by which heat isgenerated through the flow of electricity through a resistance memberand associated parts, and the method of applying the same for thepurpose of warming the living space in rooms and buildings generally andhas particular reference to the even distribution of heat moreparticularly through those portions of the rooms and living space thatare occupied, thus making more efficient the results obtained from givenexpenditure of energy.

One of the principal objects of our invention is to remove the chillfrom the floor of rooms and to warm the strata of air in the roomadjacent to the floor and particularly of those portions of the floormost frequently occupied by persons in a quiescent state.

We have found that the ordinary systems of heating enclosed spaces byconvection and conduction make necessary the expenditure air and thewalls and ceilings of a room,-

which heat units are largely wasted as regards any warming of thepersons in the room. The hot air rising rapidly to the ceiling and thereforming a layer of greater warmth, whereas the lower portions of theroom that may be occupied are still left in a comparatively coldcondition until the en tire body of air in the room has reached thedesired temperature.

One of the ob ects of our invention is the application and distributionof heat on the floor of the room so that the floor of the room itself iswarm and this warmth is communicated also to the strata of air lying inthe lower portions of the room. This warming of the floor and lowerstrata is evenly distributed over a considerable space so that there isno intensive circulation tion of warmth in the floor and in the lowerpart of the room, thus conserving a large amount of energy for anequivalent warmmg. of the occupants of the room, or in other words weare able to increase the warmth of the used parts of the room by a lessexpenditure of energy than that heretofore attained.

Other objects will appear from the drawmgs and specifications whichfollow.

These objects. we accomplish by introducmg under the floor of a room,and preferably between the conventional fioor joists a conductor ofelectricity of relatively low resistance and large exposed area andhaying a conductivity suited to distribute the required number of heatunits. By such a warming element we are enabled to keep the actualtemperature of the conductor such that it can be touched or handled atany time without burning and so that under no condition will it besufliciently hot to establish combustion thereabouts, and still will besufficiently warm to warm the loor in proximity thereto and to keep theoccupants of the room always comfortably warm.

The above mentioned conductor, which is adapted to be placed just underthe floor is mounted upon suitably insulated supports and preferablyentirely surrounded by the still air between the floor joists and alsois referably arranged within a box form of structure, the upper side ortop of which is preferably left off and the box attached directly to orimmediately adjacent to the floor to be warmed. In this way the heatestablished in the air space about the conductor is communicateddirectly to the floor in a most efficient way and every heat unitgenerated by the said conductor is distributed in the warming of thefloor and lower strata of the room. Asbestos or other suitableinsulation may be placed about the conductor or between the saidconductor and bottom of the box structure and if desired and especiallywhen the space between the floor and lower ceiling and joist is entirelyconfined the said box may be dispensed with entirely and the insulatedsupports and asbestos heat insulation arranged about the conductor tosuit the requirements of the tail -'in Figs. 2, 5. .16, "maybe'supported upon the joists 2,. 3, thus enabling the boxes 12, 13, tobe set in place as the construction of the floor and thefloorjoists'proceeds,or' the floor may are to be proportioned so that atno time or in any part thereof is the temperature raised to a pointwhere burning or Combustion could occur within the confined space inwhich it is to be installed. In other words its unit resistance ismaintained low throughout the entire structure between the floor,ceiling and joints whereby it will be impossible for a'fire to occurtherefrom, and preferably such as will maintain a temperature ofapproximately degrees Fahrenheit 011 the floor.

Referring to the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 illustrates in plan View a portion of the fioor and floor joistsof a room wherein the floor is shown in dotted lines to betterillustrate the arrangement of our conductor element mounted there below.

Fig. 2 is a cross section of Fig. 1 on the line IIII thereof.

Fig. 3 is a reduced plan View of a room 36 of Fig. 4 with a portion ofthe floor shown broken away to expose the joists and our warming units12, 13, 14 located therebelow. I

Fig. 4 is a cross section of a house 1n which four rooms are shown, eachprovided with our warming conductors and showing particularly theelectrical connections thereto and means by which the degree of heat maybe varied in accordance with the conditions or suit the wishes of theoccupants.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross section of one of the conductor units shownin place below the floor and particularly illustrating the preferredarrangement of the conductor and enclosing box and their attachment tothe floor.

Throughout the figures similar numerals.

number of conductor boxes or warming units" as 12,13, 14, which arepreferably made relatively long, thus extending over a considerableportion of the room area; These boxes are open at the top andare'mounted directly adjacent'the floor 1 as shown in de- The upperflanges 15,

be trapped in any conventional way as at the "joints 17, 18, 19, and theunits-attached directly to said traps or mounted upon the joists ifpreferred, wherebyithe warming units may be readily reached at any time.However, the construction of conductor herein recommended will notrequire attention after original installation throughout the life of thebuilding.

Within the box 12, 13, 14, we mount the conductor element preferably along wire or other like resistance conductor indicated at 20 and whichmay be reaved about the insulators 21, 22, 23, 24, and which isconnected from the electric circuit through the insulators as 25, 26,and these units 12, 13, 14, with their conductors therein, ma be mountedin series as illustrated in Fig. 1 wherein the two units in series areenergized from the conductors 27, 28, for one position of the switchlever 29 when on the contact 30 or one of the said units may be cut outby shifting the switch 29 to the conductor contact 31 or any pluralityof heating units may be connected into any combination either in. seriesor parallel in well known ways by conventional switches and connections.

The boxes 12,- 13, 14, are preferably made of heat resisting material orthey may be formed of metal and asbestos lined or of any other suitablematerial or construction by which the air body therein is confined or bywhich the surrounding air in the spaces 10 and 11 serves as a suitableheat insulator to concentrate the heat distribution from the conductor20 upon the floor 1. In Fig. 3 is shown distribution of three suchconductor units located under the floor in the center portion of theroom, being that portion to be most occupied, as for example a living ordining room, although it is to be understood that the heat units may beadvantageously located in other portions of the room, as for example inthe upper bedroom 31 of Fig. 4 the heat units are shown adjacent one ofthe walls to correspond with the position of the dresser, whereas in thebath room 35 the heating units are shown on the floor adjacent the bathtub, and in the living room 36 they are shown located in the centralportion of the room and in the dining room 37 they are shown asdistributed around, but not inthe center. as the central space is hereoccupied by thedining room table.

.Weclaimr s I 1. Room heating-.means in combination with an imperforatefloor, a casing mounted in substantial contact with the under side of aportion of said fioor, and an electrical re sistance within said casingadapted when energized toheat the floor.

2.,An electric heater adapted to heat the floors of rooms and comprisinga casing adapted to be fixed to the underside of a floor and anelectriciresistancejwithin said casing comprising a plurality of loopsin a plane substantially parallel with the floor.

with an in'iperforate floor, a casing mounted in substantial contactwith the under side of a portion of said floor, an electrical resistancewithin said casing adapted when energize'd to heat the floor and heatinsulation means adapted to confine the heat generated by saidresistance against the floor and substantially preventing the escape ofheat except through said fioor.

6. An. electric heater adapted to heat the floors of rooms andcomprising a casing adapted to be fixed to the underside of a floor, anelectric resistance within said casing comprising a plurality of loopsin a plane substantially parallel with the floor and heat insulationmeans adapted to confine the heat generated by said resistance againstthe floor and substantially preventing the escape of heat except throughsaid floor.

7. Room heating means in combination with an imperforate floor, saidmeans comprising a casing of elongated form and adapted to be mounted insubstantial contact with the under side of a portion of said floorbetween the floor joists, an electrical resistance within said casingadapted when energized to heat the said floor and comprising a pluralityof loops insulated from each other and heat insulation means adapted toconfine the heat generated by said resistance against the floor andsubstantially preventing the escape of heat except through said floor.

8. The method of warming a floored space which consists of transformingelectrical energy into heat immediately beneath the said floor, andmaintaining said heat substantially within 400 F.

9. The method of warming a floored space which consists of transformingelectrical energy into heat energy under adjacent sections of a selectedportion of said floor and maintaining said heat substantially within 400F.

10. The method of warming a floored space which consists of transformingelectrical energy into heat immediately beneath the said floor, saidtransformation being within a space closed against air circulation.

11. The method of warming a floored space which consists of transformingelectrical energy into heat energy under adjacent sections of a selectedportion of said floor, said transformation being within a space closedagainst air circulation.

12. The method of warming a floored space which consists of transformingelectrical energy into heat immediately beneath the said floor, andestablishing resistance to the transmission of the heat in a downwarddirection said transformation being within a space closed against aircirculation.

13. The method of warming a floored space which consists of transformingelectrical energy into heat energy under adjacent sections of a selectedportion of said floor and establishing resistance to the transmission ofthe heat in a downward direction said transformation being within aspace closed against air circulation.

JOHN W. MCKEEHAN. GEORGE J. HENRY.

